Martinsburg daily gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1887-1887, 1887-06-04
DAILY EBB AND FLOW
or THE HUMAN TIDE BETWEEN
NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN.

Tho Tin bucket Brignde-Tong Lines Of
People H6rrying 70 the Big Bridge.
Running Tor the Ferry Bosts-The Re-
turn tide.
/ live In Brooklyn, and every morning
and evening make one Of the innumerable
throng about 100000, they think who
cross and recrOss East river, and see
Az come over at all hours from to b.
M, and return with the Same latitude, 4
alternate my company very agreeably.
First is the tin bucket brigade; but only
see them when walk down to the bridge
before breakfast. About 5 o'clock the
throng begins. First come the scavengers
and sWeepers, the women who sweep out
the Offices, the boys who do the early
morning work, the first relief Of messen-
gers and their contemporaries A little
later every car Is crowded with laborers,
brawny men Of the pick and hammer;
about &C, 900 Of them come over before
O'Clock. Then there Is 1ull for d few
minutes. but soon after breakfast one
sees long lines of people ON all the streets
near the bridge, hurrying to the stairs
merchants, Wall street men, clerks, shop
girls, writer's and people df hundred
other occupations
Before 7:3O the entrance stairs are
jamraed with moving humanity. The
tickets are dropped in the box below
three cents each or forty for q dollar,
the cars are opened and filed in ten Sec
onds--fr corners seated, late corners
hanging on to the straps-then the clamp
Is turned on to the running cable and we
are whirled across to Park row in two
Zach xr;fI sna% f,v4,y v,o,.co,,c
and generally holds fifty; there are three
cars IN each train, and one train min
ute; so 5000 people per hour are brought
over in the cars. The foot passengers
way, below the car track, is crowded at
the same time, and the carriage way, too;
SO at least 10000 people come over on the
bridge every morning
ALL THE FERRY BOATS RUNNING.
Meanwhile oil the ferry boats are run
ming at their best. For two hours each
morning and evening they charge but one
cent for passage-the same as footmen pay
on the bridge; at other hours two cents.
Walking to the foot of Fulton street,
Brooklyn, any morning about 7:30, OBJ
serve several hundred people break into q
run all at once; the clang at the dock has
warned them that a boat is In, and time
is so precious that they don't want to lose
the two minutes and half of waiting for
the next boat. But it is well established
principle of my constitution not to skill
myself to keep myself, = and never run
for o train or boat. The roomy passenger
depots are nice places to wait in, anyhow;
but it is curious to see the fidgety people
press against the big iron gate. ready to
jump for the next boat as soon as 1t il
made fast and the gate run back.
And is all this rushing and crowdine
good for humanity? Certainly not. A
fellow Is swallowed up; his individuality
is lost; he is not self existent and re-
spected man, but merely one unit in q
vast aggregate Of numbers. Nobody
knows anybody; and from the rush fol
first place, and the push for seats, should
guess that nobody cares for anybody.
have crossed ON the cars dozen times
and can't remember that have seen the
same person twice. Soon after q. m.
there is 3 perceptible thinning Of tht
crowds, both ON bridge and ferries; Their
people Of more leisure come over, and
from 10 o'clock till 2 p. m. one may see
rich dresses on the cars or elegant car
riages on the roadway. About 3 p m
the return tide begins to RISE and about
5:S0 the throng Is much more dense thar
In the morning. The crush is awful. AL
most every day some one is painfully
squeezed against the iron railing, and oc
casionally some feeble one Is badly bruised
Going over from to one sees only 1
dense crowd Of wearied people; about
or 7;80 the return cars contain some d
these people, cooled and refreshed, bound
for the evening entertainments In New
York; the shop girls who went east II
plain and shop worn dresses are now
many Of them, going west in rather elegan
evening costumes A dozen first clasl
theatres and at least fifty second and thru